Giant Freakin Robot

Only two weeks after the release of Elysium, director Neill Blomkamp is already preparing for his next film, Chappie. Blomkamp is taking a different route with Chappie, a science fiction comedy, but it stands to reason that the new film will still have Blomkamp’s talent for world building and sci-fi tech. Chappie will also reunite Blomkamp with his home country of South Africa and his writing partner Terri Tatchell (District 9). Last week, Sony gave Blomkamp the green light to make Chappie a reality, and now the studio has revealed that it will hit theaters in spring of 2015.

Chappie‘s 2015 release date puts it among an epic glut of amazing science fiction, comic book, and genre movies that will be delivered in 2015. Sony gave Chappie a release date of March 27, 2015, so it will go head-to-head with DreamWorks Animation’s spinoff The Penguins of Madagascar. Chappie will also be released three weeks after the Fantastic Four reboot from director Josh Trank (Chronicle).

Sony almost gave Chappie the same release date Elysium was originally slated for, March 1. Elysium was eventually pushed to August 9 in order to take advantage of the summer movie-going season. They also then pushed the RoboCop remake back to February 7, 2014.

Over the weekend, it seemed as if general audiences forgot about Neill Blomkamp’s latest film, Elysium. Although the science fiction social allegory was at the top of the box office, it whimpered in with a $29.8 million domestic opening, against a $115 million production budget. At the moment, Elysium has grossed $44.1 million worldwide, and it remains unclear if it will be profitable for Sony in the long run. The film received a mixed critical response and middling box office receipts, but despite Elysium‘s disappointing numbers, Sony clearly wants to stay in business with director Neill Blomkamp. The studio has now greenlit his next film, Chappie, for a production start this fall.

As reported by /Film, Sony gave the go-ahead for Blomkamp to make Chappie a reality. The film will reunite Blomkamp with his South African roots, while serving as a more lighthearted film from the young director. Sony also revealed the official plot synopsis for Chappie, so we’ll finally get to the bottom of why the South African rap duo Die Antwoord are going to be up to in the new science fiction comedy.

Chappie tells the story of a robot imbued with artificial intelligence who is stolen by two local gangsters who want to use him for their own nefarious purposes. The film will star Sharlto Copley as the voice of Chappie, with Ninja and Yolandi Visser, voices of the South African Zef counter-culture movement and members of rap-rave duo Die Antwoord, as the two gangsters.

Every cinematic genre has actors that rarely stray from their comfort zones. Generally, comedians and dramatic actors that tend to have longer shelf lives in popular films, while those associated with science fiction and horror often fall by the wayside, forced into appearances in direct-to-video or cable movies once their heyday is behind them. I know this is a very broad generalization with numerous exceptions, but you guys know what I mean. There just aren’t that many actors that are able to find repeated success when a majority of their films reside in mainstream sci-fi.

And anyone who says something silly like, “But what about Tom Cruise or Will Smith?” doesn’t get out time of day.

But Sharlto Copley looks poised to stake a bold claim to unique, interesting science fiction. The District 9 star has signed on for the sci-fi action flick Hardcore, to be produced by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov (Night Watch, Wanted).

There are two solid reasons why I can’t wait for Neill Blomkamp’s uptopian/dystopian action drama Elysium to hurry up and hit theaters, which it will on August 9. One, it looks like a no-bullshit battering ram of science fiction excitement, and will possibly be the best sci-fi film of the year. (To be fair, I say this about many films each year.) And the second reason? I really want Blomkamp to get to work on his next feature, the sci-fi comedy Chappie. Yeah, they’re both selfish reasons. Yeah, I’m a selfish movie fan.

I take much comfort in the fact that he’s been gearing up for it by casting District 9 star Sharlto Copley and members of the music duo Die Antwoord. And I’m happy to report Blomkamp is keeping it interesting, as actor Dev Patel is in talks to join the film as the co-lead.

We’re not all that aware of what Chappie is actually about — thus making my initial anticipation rather baseless — but it’s based on a short film, Tetra Vaal, that Blomkamp made back in 2004. The short was essentially a fake advert for the promotion of robot cops keeping the peace in the slums of South Africa. Copley will be playing the role of the police bot working the shanty-town beat. Should Patel definitely join the cast, he’d be playing the lead human role, which is only described as “a young man in the impoverished town.” Check out Tetra Vaal below, and the more rebellious of you can start thinking about ways to evolve the “pig” slur once robots take over the police force. (Ex. Robo-Sir.)